The present invention relates to a telephone answering device with a means for indicating its operating status.
Heretofore, there were roughly two modes for recording incoming messages on telephone answering devices. The first was a fixed length recording mode ("fixed" mode), in which recording time was limited to a fixed duration such as 30 seconds. The second was a variable length recording mode ("variable" mode), in which an incoming message was recorded until the caller hung up. Typically, a sliding switch was used to select one of the two modes.
However, if a user left home without remembering to check the recording mode of the telephone answering device, there were occasions in which the recording medium was used up too quickly because the device had been left in variable mode. This was most likely to happen if the user remained away from home for a long time.